rena

Im going to be driving my 04 lexus GS430 during the winter this year. I had an accident with my other front wheel drive car so this is just the way its going to have to be. (Not that I mind. The leather heated seats really feel good)

I need to know what type of winters tires would I use. I went to a couple shops and they are telling me that Blizzak is the way to go for my car. They run about 1000 for a set to 1500.

Id also like to know what your experience is driving in the snow with this car. There is a button in the middle of the console that you supposivly push during winter driving. Either way, Im sure its not that positive of a ride being a rear wheel drive.

(Im from B.C. Canada)

neurocity

iTrader: (17)

My 02 GS300 was lowered and I used Michelin Alpin PA3s on a set of Gspyders all winter. Trounced through a major Northern Wisconsin snow storm no problems at all.

http://www.michelinman.com/tire-sele...3/tire-details

Too bad you weren't looking a few months ago. I had them listed here for sale with under 8K miles on em. $400. Guy in a AMG E55 will be happy this winter.

I made this video with my GS450h last winter driving through a Chicago-land snow/rain/ice storm.
This is me passing a Cayenne AWD and a 300C AWD... up a hill. F-body didn't work out to well


Oh, the car is on Conti DWS AS too.

rena

Nice video. Thats what I want to do but with my car.

NEbiker10

iTrader: (1)

I have had great luck with firestone winter force tires on both my SC300 and my gs400

Arcadian

I have had Blizzaks and Michelin Alpin PA2 that have worked very well. Any of the top end snows are good - Michelin, Blizzaks, Nokian, Continental.
The ones with a lot of tread siping and that use a silicon-based tread are probably the best.
The "Snow" mode button seems to work by cutting back throttle response, it makes the throttle very slow to pick up, so it feels what I would call 'lazy.'
While traction control and skid control (VSC button) will save your butt most of the time, at times you have more and better control by switching these safety features OFF.
Just remember two things - Our grandpas (great grandpas?) drove in the snow on skinny, hard bias-ply tires with no ABS and, Nobody needs to be at work on time in a blizzard.

ThePureOne

I have the cooper Weather-Master S/T 2 with studs. Its a bit loud, but I will never drive this car with anything else in the winter. Traction, Traction, Traction.

rena

I tried driving with what I have now and it was horrible. My back tires kept spinning and I was all over the map. Im glad I have options now. Do any of you put sandbags in the back just to help with traction?

AirRideFan

iTrader: (1)

yeah, tires are EVERYTHING in the winter! I had fairly NEW Michelin (Z-rated) MXM4 tires on my Front-wheel-drive Grand Prix GTX (GTP with Ram Air, produced by SLP) and it wasn't nearly as good in the snow as the GS is with Blizzak's!

I'd recommend trying to find a 2nd set of wheels with snow tires, and just changing them before winter- instead of buying and mounting winter tires on your stock wheels (the snow tires will NEED to come back off when the weather gets warm and dry again- or they'll wear out extremely quickly!)

newgsman

iTrader: (4)

Not quite a grandpa but I have been driving RWD cars in Ontario winters for over 35 years. I have used just about every brand of winter tire on the market and I have driven all season tires in the winter as well. Winter tires definitely make a difference but the real difference maker is the driver. There is no such thing as the perfect winter tire tire. There are tires that work well in snow, some that work well on ice and sleet, and others that perform somewhere in between. You need to recognize what type of driving you want to be most concerned with and you need to be able to handle your car with those tires in all of the other situations. Whenever I am faced with a blizzard or freezing rain or whatever, I usally try and find some desserted area and establish a feel for how my tires are reacting to the condition and drive accordingly. Remember that new winter tires are only new for a short while after that the driving characterisitics change as they wear and you need to recognize what's happening. I have had brand new Blizzaks and older Blizzaks and the performance between the two is like night and day.

My personal favourite tires are the Michelin Pilot Alpin series. My GS4 is probably the most powerful car I have had for winter driving and the PA2 have worked well with it. They seem to last the longest and have pretty good all around witner perfomrance. I have also done well with Goodyear GW3, and General Altimax Arctic. I found Blizzaks to work well for the first year or so but they wear very quickly and become much less effective.

IAGS400

Don't go cheap and get winterforce tires as I made this mistake. They have no sidewall strength and were originally designed for small trucks.

They are extremely loud on dry pavement but they do work very well on snow and ice.

ninja6o4

iTrader: (6)

Unless you're up north, winter here is mostly a joke. I'm running General Altimax Arctic on a second set of wheels in winter time. You won't need to use Snow mode. Maybe on the 3 days we actually get snow. the rest of the time it will be fine in our pissing rain winter lol

milehighGS

I ran Yokohama IG20s last season, and my 25 mile commute was fine. I first tried less expensive Hankook iPike tires, which were not cutting it for me.

SorrGwa

iTrader: (1)

bridgestone blizzak lm-25s (yeah old school) picked them up a few seasons ago when tirerack was clearing them out.

rena

Yep. It is mostly rain at B.C. So for the most part it wont be snowing. BUT when it does. It goes hard. So about a week here and there. Since Im repsite I need to have a working vehicle. I seem to be getting the general area of the Blizzak being the best at this time. Though they dont seem to last.

My question is, if it is mostly rain and or cold frost for the winter, is it still okay to put the blizzaks on?

Or should I just have them available and if it happens that we get a dump of snow of a week THEN stick them on and then take them off after the snow is gone and repeat this through the winter?

SorrGwa

iTrader: (1)

ive used toyo observe, bridgestone something 50s (old school winter tire), nokian wr, hankook icebears, and of course my bridgestone lm25s.

i think for winter, the nokian wr's were by far the best. the bridgestones are ok, but gotta learn to be gentle with the throttle. i actually turn off traction control, ifind it a bit easier to control the car by tapping on the throttle.